BARENTS SEA, June 29. /TASS/. Participants in the Arctic Floating University's expedition, presently sailing in the Barents Sea towards the Kolguev Island, began monitoring waste in the water, a TASS correspondent aboard the Professor Molchanov scientific/research vessel reported on Thursday.

The expedition participants watching the waste are on the bridge. They register all big objects on the water surface. The observation's maximum distance is about 50 meters. They put down the object (for example, a net or a plastic, glass bottle), its size, color, and coordinates.

"This year, we have a rather big group of volunteers, which is very good," said Alexandra Yershova, Associate Professor of the Department of Geoecology, Nature Management and Environmental Safety, and Head of Plasticlab at the Russian State Hydrometeorological University. "Our group consists not only of students. The Northern Branch for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring's specialists, after their studies on the section, have joined us to work from the coast."

Most waste was bottles, bags, plastic containers, boxes for fish - floating objects. Most objects are of plastic. Noteworthy, the expert said, only 15% of plastic waste remains floating. About 15% is washed ashore, and the rest sinks to the bottom. For a certain time, waste can float in the water column - most dangerous there are nets, where sea inhabitants get trapped and die.

In the Barents Sea, the areas of maximum waste are in the areas of the most intensive navigation, she continued. "The biggest areas with accumulated waste are in the Northern Sea Route - where ships enter the Northern Sea Route. This applies to both tracks: the southern track - through the Kara Gate, and the northern one - through the north of Novaya Zemlya. In both locations there are large spots, really, a large amount of waste, which, surely, points to an incorrect waste management on ships that are active in the Barents Sea. For example, in the White Sea we almost do not see waste. The situations are strikingly different," she said.

The expedition members have begun to sample water to see the content of microplastics - plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in size. The Barents Sea is significantly more polluted with microplastics than the neighboring Kara Sea. At all the landings, the group will collect all the waste on certain parts of the coast to have it analyzed. These works are necessary, among other things, to offer protocols, adapted for the Arctic, to study macro-debris on the shore.

About Floating University

The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University (NAFU) and the Northern Branch for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. The expeditions continue since 2012. The project's partners and sponsors are the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, VTB, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel, the Arkhangelsk Region's government, the Russian Geographical Society.